The origins of the iconic Irish red deer was a controversial topic. Was this species native to Ireland, or introduced?
In a new study that was published 30 March 2012 in the scientific journal Quaternary Science Reviews, a multinational team of researchers from Ireland, Austria, UK and USA have finally answered this question.
Comparing DNA
By comparing DNA from ancient bone specimens to DNA obtained from modern animals, the researchers discovered that the Kerry red deer are the direct descendants of deer present in Ireland 5000 years ago. Further analysis using DNA from European deer proves that Neolithic people from Britain first brought the species to Ireland.
Although proving the red deer is not native to Ireland, researchers believe that the Kerry population is unique as it is directly related to the original herd and are worthy of special conservation status.
A link to the past
Fossil bone samples from the National Museum of Ireland, some up to 30,000 years old, were used in the study. Results also revealed several 19th and 20th century introductions of red deer to Ireland, which are in agreement with written records from the same time. At present there is no evidence of red deer in Ireland during the Mesolithic period, 9000 years ago, when humans first settled there.
Neolithic house, Irish National Heritage Park. Image: David Hawgood (Geograph, used under a CC BY-SA 3.0)
The investigation’s findings are in agreement with archaeological evidence, which also suggests a special relationship between humans and red deer during later prehistoric times. Antler fragments and tools are frequently found in Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age excavations.
Dr Ruth Carden, working as a researcher in the National Museum of Ireland, who led the study, said “The Kerry red deer represent a unique population within an Irish context and therefore should be given special conservation and management status within Ireland.”
The genetic analysis also showed that some of these herds were descended from animals imported from Britain in the 1800s and 1900s, matching the historical records.
The DNA showed that the reds away from Kerry have started to “hybridise” or cross-breed with Sitka deer, a species introduced here in 1860. There is however no such interbreeding for the Kerry red population, Dr Carden added. Sitkas also live in the forests of Killarney but the DNA analysis showed no interbreeding had yet taken place.
Dr Allan McDevitt, from the School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, one of the lead geneticists said “We have very few native mammals in Ireland but certainly those that arrived with early humans, such as the red deer, are every bit as Irish as we are.”
Source: School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin
More information:
R F Carden, A D McDevitt, F E Zachos, P C Woodman, P O’Toole, H Rose, N T Monaghan, M G Campana, D G Bradley, C J Edwards (2012). Phylogeographic, ancient DNA, fossil and morphometric analyses reveal ancient and modern introductions of a large mammal: the complex case of red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Ireland. Quaternary Science Reviews. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.02.012
School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin
The Heritage Council, Ireland
Woodman P.; McCarthy M.; Monaghan N., (1997) The Irish quaternary fauna project: Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 16, Number 2, 1997 , pp. 129-159 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(96)00037-6
